Terms and Conditions

Terms and conditions for Non-Assurance Plan Patients

These Terms and Conditions are valid for Patients using our service on a non-member basis on or after 1 June 2014. Please read this information carefully and keep it in a safe place as use of our services are subject to these Terms and Conditions.

Our missed appointments policy applies to all non-members. If you do not call us to cancel your appointment at least 4 hours before the appointment time, a missed appointment fee of £17 for a 30 minute appointment and £12 for a 20 minute appointment will apply. If a home visit is cancelled without 4 hours’ notice given, 50% of the home visit rate will be applicable.

DOCTORnow reserves the right to refuse to provide advice or consultations where:

Outstanding charges have not been paid

In its reasonable opinion, the giving of service would involve any breach of the law;

It reasonably considers that you or anyone accompanying you, is behaving or has behaved in an abusive or threatening manner to DOCTORnow employees or agents

Changes to Terms and Conditions

DOCTORnow is entitled to change any of the Terms and Conditions on the anniversary of your joining date. DOCTORnow also reserves the right to make changes to these Terms and Conditions during the Membership Year, on the giving of reasonable notice, where it reasonably considers this necessary in order to comply with any applicable laws, regulations or the instruction of a regulatory authority.

Changes to your Personal Details

Changes to your name, address, telephone must be notified to DOCTORnow immediately.

Matters outside DOCTORnow’s reasonable control

While DOCTORnow seeks to meet the service needs of patients at all times, its resources are finite and this may not always be possible. DOCTORnow shall not be liable for service failures where DOCTORnow is faced with circumstances outside its reasonable control.

Exclusion of liability for loss of profit etc

DOCTORnow shall not, in any event, and to the extent permitted by law, have any responsibility for any increased costs or expenses, for any loss of profit, business, contracts, revenue or anticipated savings or for any special, indirect or consequential losses incurred as a result of or in connection with any service, whether resulting from tort (including negligence or breach of statutory duty), breach of agreement or otherwise. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this clause or these Terms and Conditions shall exclude or restrict DOCTORnow’s liability for negligence resulting in death or personal injury.

Enforcement of Terms and Conditions

Failure to enforce or non-reliance on any of these Terms and Conditions by DOCTORnow will not prevent DOCTORnow from subsequently relying on or enforcing them.

None of the Terms and Conditions or benefits of Membership are enforceable by anyone else other than you.

Interpretation: use of English law

These Terms and Conditions are governed and should be interpreted by the laws of England and Wales.

USE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

DOCTORnow is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office and complies with the regulations associated with the Data Protection Act.

DOCTORnow will use your personal information for the following purposes only:

to identify you when you contact us;

to help identify services and/or products which you could have from us or selected partners;

to help administer, and contact you about improved administration of any services and products we have provided, provide now or in the future;

to carry out marketing analysis and customer profiling, to conduct research, including creating statistical information;

to help to prevent and detect fraud or loss;

to contact you in any way (including mail, email, telephone, or text) about products and services offered by us and/or selected partners unless you have previously asked us not to do so;

We may allow other people and organisations to use information we hold about you if we have been legitimately asked to provide information for legal or regulatory purposes or as part of legal proceedings or prospective legal proceedings. We will, however, always use every reasonable effort to ensure sufficient protections are in place to safeguard your personal information.

We may monitor and record communications with you (including phone conversations and emails) for quality assurance and compliance reasons.

Where you give us information on behalf of someone else, you confirm that you have provided them with the information set out in these provisions and that they have not objected to such use of their personal information. Where you give us sensitive data about yourself or another person (such as health details) you agree (and confirm that the other person has agreed) to our processing such information in the manner set out in these provisions.

General rights to refuse service

Please note: if you are refused service by DOCTORnow you have the right to an explanation in writing (see ‘Compliments and complaints‘ in our Patients Guide or at www.doctornow.org for contact details).

Terms and conditions for Assurance Plan Patients

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to DOCTORnow and thank you for purchasing DOCTORnow Private Health Assurance Plan.

These Terms and Conditions are valid for Members joining or renewing on or after 1st November 2016. Please read this information carefully and keep it in a safe place as use of your Health Plan is subject to these Terms and Conditions.

Please note that whilst most of the Terms and Conditions apply to all Members, there are some variations depending on the type of membership you have. To work out which of the Terms and Conditions apply to your particular Membership, please make sure you are aware of the type of cover you hold, as detailed in the accompanying letter.

This section details the services that are available under the different Membership options:

We offer both Individual and Family Memberships. Please note that Family memberships are restricted to the same membership type i.e. all members included within a family membership must all either be VIP members or VIP24 members. For the purposes of our family membership, a household is defined as patients living at the same address but can include students at University.

VIP

This entitles you to free surgery and telephone consultations during our surgery hours, and free administrative services. You also benefit from a 10% discount on most medical procedures and a 15% discount on all medicals. Members will also be entitled to a free annual Flu vaccination from September 2016. Home visits during surgery hours can be requested, but are at the discretion of the Doctor and are chargeable at the rate of £290 per visit. Out of hours in-surgery consultations are also at the discretion of the Doctor and are chargeable at the rate of £310.

VIP24

In addition to the VIP benefits outlined above, VIP24 membership enables you to call a Doctor at any time outside surgery hours, day or night, free of charge. The out-of-hours telephone number cannot be used to make routine surgery appointments. You can request Home Visits for occasions when you are not well enough to attend to the surgery. Home visits are chargeable at the rate of £170. Out of Hours In-Surgery Consultations are also chargeable at the rate of £170.

VIP24+

In addition to the VIP24 benefits, our VIP24+ option further includes a monthly nurse ‘check-up’ visit and 4 GP Home Visits free of charge in a membership year. In some circumstances special arrangements may apply. Additional visits will be charged for at the VIP24 rate.

VIPi

This entitles you to free telephone consultations, administrative services including prescriptions, and access to our out of hour’s telephone number which enables you to request Doctor’s advice when the surgery is closed, along with the ability to request home visits. In-surgery consultations and home visits are chargeable at non-member rates, for reimbursement to you by your insurance company.

Home visits are only available to qualifying members who live within a radius of 15 miles of the Beaconsfield surgery. Exceptionally, visits may occasionally be agreed outside of this radius. However, extra travel time will be charged at a rate of £65 for Doctors and £24 for Nurses per 30 mins, minimum charge 15 mins. Additional mileage will be charged at a rate of 0.45p per mile.

Please note that daytime home visits are suitable for patients not well enough to come into the surgery. Out of hours home visits are intended for urgent situations and our GP will be happy to guide you over the phone in this decision.

MEMBERSHIP CONTRACTS

Membership is available either on an annual or continuous basis:

Annual Membership: the contract is for 12 months, paid for in a lump sum upfront. Membership renewal is advised to you at least 7 days before the contract expires, along with any changes to Terms and Conditions that will take effect at renewal. If you do not wish to renew your membership, or if you wish to switch to continuous membership, you should notify DOCTORnow prior to your renewal date. Payment must be made within 7 days of the renewal date.

Continuous Membership: cover is paid for monthly, by Direct Debit, on the 1st of each month (or the next working day). The first month’s payment and joining fee (if applicable) is required up front. The initial contract is for 12 months, but thereafter runs on a continuous basis until cancelled. Please see further details on cancellation.

NEW/RE-JOINING MEMBERS

Individual Membership: All new members who join and any members whose membership has lapsed and who then decide to re-join will be subject to a joining fee of £150.

Family Membership: All new members who join and any members whose membership has lapsed and who then decide to re-join will be subject to a joining fee. The following joining fees apply for a family membership:

One-off joining fee £300

Additional member joining an existing family membership £150

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

General exclusions

Membership does not provide for:

The costs associated with blood tests

The costs associated with the purchase of any medicines prescribed

The costs incurred by consultations/treatments with any specialists referred to

Our missed appointments policy applies to all members. If you do not call us to cancel your appointment at least 4 hours before the appointment time, a missed appointment fee will apply. For VIP, VIP24 & VIP24+ members, a fee of £30 will apply to missed 30 minute consultations and £20 for missed 20 minute consultations. For VIPi members, a fee of £40 will apply to missed 30 minute consultations and £30 for missed 20 minute consultations. If a home visit is cancelled without 4 hours’ notice given, 50% of the home visit rate will be applicable.

Cancellation of Membership

You have the right to cancel your Membership within a 14 day ‘cooling off period’, commencing either from the agreement of the contract (which is the renewal date for renewing Annual Membership) or the receipt of the Membership documents, whichever happens later. Cancellations must be confirmed in writing.

The following refund policy will apply for cancelling within the cooling off period:

If you have already had a consultation, you will receive a full refund of the total Membership fee paid less the charges for the consultation.

If you have not had a consultation, you will receive a full refund of the fee, less an administration charge of £30.

Please note that there will be no additional cooling off period(s) during the Membership Year, regardless of any changes that are made to the Membership.

If you wish to cancel after the cooling off period has expired the following will apply:

For Members with Annual cover: subject to any other statutory rights you may have, there will be no refund of the Membership fee. The only exception will be in the event of death, in which case DOCTORnow may refund your estate with an amount proportionate to any full months left.

For those with Continuous Membership: you can cancel your cover at any time after the initial 12 months by giving a minimum of 30 days notice. Payment cancellation will take effect at the next payment date following the end of the notice period. You will be advised of the date when your membership expires.

DOCTORnow has the right to cancel any membership contract immediately if you or anyone accompanying you, is behaving or has behaved in an abusive or threatening manner to DOCTORnow employees or agents, or if, in DOCTORnow’s opinion the therapeutic relationship has irretrievably broken down or it is clear that the service expectations and demands of the patient are unreasonable in relation to the services provided by DOCTORnow

In addition, a Continuous Membership contract can be cancelled by DOCTORnow:

immediately if any month’s Continuous Membership fee or other related charge is overdue;

at any time by giving at least 30 days notice: cancellation will take effect at the next payment date following the end of this notice period and no refund will be due.

Changes to Terms and Conditions

DOCTORnow is entitled to change any of the Terms and Conditions on the anniversary of your joining date. DOCTORnow also reserves the right to make changes to these Terms and Conditions during the Membership Year, on the giving of reasonable notice, where it reasonably considers this necessary in order to comply with any applicable laws, regulations or the instruction of a regulatory authority.

Changes to your Personal Details

Changes to your name, address, telephone number or Bank Account details must be notified to DOCTORnow immediately.

Matters outside DOCTORnow’s reasonable control

While DOCTORnow seeks to meet the service needs of Members at all times, its resources are finite and this may not always be possible. DOCTORnow shall not be liable for service failures where DOCTORnow is faced with circumstances outside its reasonable control.

Exclusion of liability for loss of profit etc

DOCTORnow shall not, in any event, and to the extent permitted by law, have any responsibility for any increased costs or expenses, for any loss of profit, business, contracts, revenue or anticipated savings or for any special, indirect or consequential losses incurred as a result of or in connection with any service, whether resulting from tort (including negligence or breach of statutory duty), breach of agreement or otherwise. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this clause or these Terms and Conditions shall exclude or restrict DOCTORnow’s liability for negligence resulting in death or personal injury.

Enforcement of Terms and Conditions

Failure to enforce or non-reliance on any of these Terms and Conditions by DOCTORnow will not prevent DOCTORnow from subsequently relying on or enforcing them.

None of the Terms and Conditions or benefits of Membership are enforceable by anyone else other than you.

Interpretation: use of English law

Your Membership and these Terms and Conditions are governed and should be interpreted by the laws of England and Wales.

Fair Usage Policy

In order to enable DOCTORnow to offer an efficient and rapidly accessible service to all Members, we need to ensure that excessively high usage by a minority of members is avoided.

Therefore, in a few exceptional circumstances, where usage by a member becomes excessively high, DOCTORnow reserves the right to discuss the level of usage with the member. This may lead to additional fees being charged for subsequent consultations during the membership year and a higher membership fee being charged for subsequent membership years. The new fee will be advised to you prior to renewal.

USE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

DOCTORnow is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office and complies with the regulations associated with the Data Protection Act.

DOCTORnow will use your personal information for the following purposes only:

to identify you when you contact us;

to help identify services and/or products which you could have from us or selected partners;

to help administer, and contact you about improved administration of any services and products we have provided, provide now or in the future;

to carry out marketing analysis and customer profiling, to conduct research, including creating statistical information;

to help to prevent and detect fraud or loss;

to contact you in any way (including mail, email, telephone, or text) about products and services offered by us and/or selected partners unless you have previously asked us not to do so;

to keep you up to date with our Membership scheme, under which we will give you Membership information and details of discounts and offers negotiated on behalf of our Members.

We may allow other people and organisations to use information we hold about you if we have been legitimately asked to provide information for legal or regulatory purposes or as part of legal proceedings or prospective legal proceedings. We will, however, always use every reasonable effort to ensure sufficient protections are in place to safeguard your personal information.

We may monitor and record communications with you (including phone conversations and emails) for quality assurance and compliance reasons.

Where you give us information on behalf of someone else, you confirm that you have provided them with the information set out in these provisions and that they have not objected to such use of their personal information. Where you give us sensitive data about yourself or another person (such as health details) you agree (and confirm that the other person has agreed) to our processing such information in the manner set out in these provisions.

General rights to refuse service

DOCTORnow reserves the right to refuse to provide advice or consultations where:

Membership fees have not been paid

Outstanding charges have not been paid

In its reasonable opinion, the giving of service would involve any breach of the law

It reasonably considers that you or anyone accompanying you, is behaving or has behaved in an abusive or threatening manner to DOCTORnow employees or agents

It reasonably considers that that you, or anyone acting on your behalf, is behaving, or has behaved, in an abusive or threatening manner to DOCTORnow employees either over the phone or in writing

Please note: if you are refused service by DOCTORnow you have the right to an explanation in writing (see ‘Compliments and complaints’ for contact details).

COMPLIMENTS & COMPLAINTS

If you have a compliment or complaint about your Membership we really want to hear from you. DOCTORnow welcomes your comments as they provide the opportunity to put things right and to improve service.

It is DOCTORnow’s policy to acknowledge any complaint within 2 working days of receipt. A full response to your complaint will be made within 20 days of the receipt of your complaint. If the investigation is still in progress after 20 days we will send you a letter explaining the delay and a full response will be made within 5 days of reaching a conclusion. In any event, a holding letter will be sent every twenty days where an investigation is continuing.

If you remain dissatisfied following the final response from us, then you can request an independent review known as Stage 2.

Would you recommend DOCTORnow to others?

In general, how satisfied are you with the level of care you get from DOCTORnow?

DOCTORnow continues to expand and we are always interested to hear from experienced GPs and Practice Nurses who are interested in the opportunity to work with us in Private Practice. Our opening hours mean that you must be willing to participate in a rota that includes some evening and weekend work and for GPs some out of hours on call duties, as we offer a 24 hour service to some of our Members.

If, like us, you are passionate about providing prompt and convenient access for patients to exceptional levels of patient care why not drop a covering email and a copy of your CV to our HR & Business Manager, Lynne Smith at lynne.smith@doctornow.org.

DOCTORnow continues to expand and we are always interested to hear from experienced GPs and Practice Nurses who are interested in the opportunity to work with us in Private Practice. Our opening hours mean that you must be willing to participate in a rota that includes some evening and weekend work and for GPs some out of hours on call duties, as we offer a 24 hour service to some of our Members.

If, like us, you are passionate about providing prompt and convenient access for patients to exceptional levels of patient care why not drop a covering email and a copy of your CV to our HR & Business Manager, Lynne Smith at lynne.smith@doctornow.org.